'Net Features : content management systems

Joomla Downloads Surpass 30 Million

Linc Wonham — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 03:00:00 GMT

Joomla, one of the Web’s most popular open-source content management systems (CMS), just announced that it has been downloaded more than 30 million times.

The company attributes its continued growth to the following factors:

• An aggressive development roadmap – With the release of Joomla 1.7 in July 2011, the CMS began adhering to a six-month release cycle meaning more product enhancements being introduced more often. These new features have included multi-database support, one-click version updating, pre-defined search options and language-specific font settings.

• An explosion of extensions – More than 2,000 Joomla extensions have been introduced since March 2011. These extensions developed by Joomla’s community of thousands of developers provide added features not found in the core Joomla CMS. These extensions have driven Joomla’s widespread adoption in every imaginable industry from non-profits to some of the world’s largest financial institutions. Click here to see WM's list of 10 new Joomla extensions worth trying.

• A significant number of government agencies adopting Joomla – Joomla powers about 3,100 government agencies’ websites, blogs and Intranets. Some features that have driven government adoption include one-click version updates, access control oversight, multilingual capabilities and the Joomla platform that enables developers to build multi-purpose, multi-device applications such as mobile and cloud computing apps and enterprise business systems that can run independently of the core CMS.

Organizations using Joomla aren’t just isolated to government agencies, obviously, as one research firm recently reported that Joomla powers at least 1.6 million websites.

“It is an exciting time for Joomla given its strong position powering 2.7 percent of the Web combined with its unique opportunity to influence the next wave of mobile and cloud web development,” says Paul Orwig, the new president and former treasurer of Open Source Matters, a non-profit created to provide organization, legal and financial support to the Joomla project. “The platform split that enables Joomla to be used for developing mobile and cloud computing apps is a welcomed new wave of innovation for the Joomla community.”

Joomla was downloaded about 22 million times as of the end of March 2011, meaning its adoption rate has grown about 40 percent over the last year.

InnestoNuke Module Brings E-Commerce to DotNetNuke

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:30:00 GMT

The future of software will be integrated. And if you’re not a believer, read this and you will likely be one soon.

Web content management system DotNetNuke has announced the availability of a new module from Brilliance Business Solutions that integrates the platform with e-commerce shopping cart AspDotNetStorefront.

The new module, called InnestoNuke, enables users to pass between a DotNetNuke website and an AspDotNotStorefront shopping cart under a single login. The module provides access to features including tiered customer pricing, mobile commerce support, multi-channel integration, a product feed engine, SEO-friendly architecture and, to top it all off, provides PCI compliance. The module sells within the DotNetNuke store for US $545.

"InnestoNuke opens the door to a wide range of new capabilities for companies that need commercial grade e-commerce integrated with extensible Web content management," explains Lori McDonald, president of Brilliance Business Solutions. "Organizations will have the assurance that as the platform evolves to support the latest in mobile, social, document management and content trends, their online storefront will keep pace."

10,000 Apps in DotNetNuke’s The Store (SnowCovered)

Administrator — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:40:00 GMT

The hallmark of any software platform these days is often in the depth and availability of extensions made available to their community. The better the extensions, the better the Web presence.

Open-source content management system DotNetNuke just released the second generation of its commercial marketplace for applications and designs. Previously known as SnowCovered, the marketplace is now known as “The Store” and currently offers more than 10,000 supported extensions, modules and apps from independent vendors.

“The new Store is a giant step forward for both buyers and vendors,” says Chad Nash, founder and chief developer at Data Springs Inc., a top Store vendor. “The customer experience has been improved dramatically, making it faster and easier than ever to find the extensions you need and start using them quickly.”

The Store seems to have a wide variety of products already, including modules for everything from creating forms, managing even registration, shopping carts and of course design templates/skins. Most valuable in my opinon however is the ability of the DNN Store to be accessible directly from all editions (starting with version 6.0). Known as the DNN Extensions catalog, direct access makes it possible for users to shop, purchase and install apps from the backend.

“Oftentimes an organization’s website is its single most important business asset,” says Mitch Bishop, CMO of DotNetNuke Corp. “Being able to speed the process of developing and delivering a world-class online presence is critical to these companies. The DotNetNuke Store now makes it even faster and easier for these organizations to extend their sites, empowering them to serve their customers, employees and partners quickly and affordably.”

MailChimp Expands Drupal Integration

Linc Wonham — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 20:00:00 GMT

MailChimp has announced a new integration with the Drupal content management system that brings MailChimp’s feature set directly into the Drupal user interface. Drupal users can also now send emails using MailChimp’s Simple Transactional Solution (STS).

After install, there’s a MailChimp API key input, and the integration is ready to go. It supports an unlimited amount of mailing lists, anonymous user signup, increased subscription options (such as signup during site registration) and support for MailChimp’s STS that allows for sending and tracking email via Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) within Drupal.

MailChimp STS overlays MailChimp’s tracking and interface on Amazon’s SES, so users can benefit from Amazon’s reliable delivery and massive scale, all channeled through MailChimp’s interface. The front end is all MailChimp, the back end is a lot of Amazon, and users can do it all within Drupal.

The plugin also features a complete user interface overhaul that unclutters workspace and makes it easier to work with individual lists while managing the newly expanded list support. This module will continue to expand its features per user feedback, and complements the array of features offered by Drupal.

Drupal is a completely customizable and scalable CMS solution that stresses its constantly growing list of plugins and modules. The MailChimp platform provides email marketing and publishing features that are affordable enough for small businesses and powerful enough for larger companies.

E-mail System Integrates Customers' Actions on Your Site

Linc Wonham — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:48:00 GMT

A new e-mail campaign management product from Sitecore makes it possible to map customers in a CRM system to the actual customers opening e-mails and visiting your website or accessing the Web from their mobile phones. Sitecore’s E-mail Campaign Manager tracks all the visits and actions on a business website that e-mail campaigns are influencing.

Rather than providing click-and-open rates and then losing track of visitor actions once they reach the website or initial landing page, this e-mail system tracks the individual visitor throughout the entire range of digital channels. Business websites and e-mail campaigns are tightly aligned, allowing marketers and webmasters to test and target more relevant content in e-mails, landing pages and other Web pages.

Visit Sitecore to learn more about the new E-mail Campaign Manager.